Wednesday, September 24, 2008

In the Spotlight at The Trendy Mommy

Trendy Mommy AwardThanks to Jen at The Trendy Mommy for featuring my blog! The Trendy Mommy is a source of information for moms and moms-to-be on everything from great products to decorating inspiration and party planning tips to weekend guides. Visit thier blog to see all sorts of great ideas and superb finds!

Other Site Recognitions:

Thanks to Alex at Neatorama
Thanks to Michelle at Kidhaus
Thanks to Katie at WeHeartBooks
Thanks to Emily at Slashfood
Thanks to Tamara at DecaturMom
Thanks to Sam & Bellie at Sam & Bellie
Thanks to Kaori at Koala Brains

And thanks to the countless other people that have posted about the blog or that have sent e-mails that make me smile!

The Elusive Forest Dragon Bento (Toddler)

Monkey has been talking about his hike all week. He keeps showing everyone his "boo boo" wherever we go. It happened as we scaled the slopes in search of the dragon lair. He slid down a small slope and scraped his palm. Even with such effort and pain we never found the dragon whose existence was evident from the many burnt trees discovered along our path. MOTH pointed out that it was probably due to a forest fire, but the Monkey and I knew better.

top: mini grapes, 2 peanut butter crackers, clementine orange, 2 cherry tomatoes, 4 salami rounds with cheddar
bottom: hummus sandwich with tortilla dragon, red pepper fire, cucumber landscape, and dried dragon fruit tree

Saturday, September 20, 2008

Broad River Trail Hike & Bento Picnic

We always seem to find our way, no matter how ridiculously inept our directions and no matter how far off track we become. So it was 2.15 hours after leaving home that we arrived at the Broad River Trail. Unfortunately, we arrived at the wrong end (really have no idea how this happened) and did not have time to hike the entire trail to see the many cascades and waterfall located near the Dicks Creek entrance. We still very much enjoyed our hike, and found a soft patch of pine needles off of the trail and set down for a picnic lunch. We did not see any other people on the hike and it was wonderful to sit and listen to the birds, frogs, and gurgling water without any other noises to compete with.














top: babybel gouda cheese, edamame,sweet & salty nut mix, raspberries and mini pumpkin chocolate chip muffin
bottom: bacon, avocado, and heirloom tomato sandwich on whole wheat

Monday, September 15, 2008

Snack Day

Today was the Monkeys' day to bring snacks to share with his class. It is a day of special honor and one that he was very excited to participate in, not only did he get to pass out the snacks but he was the "Child of the Day" and lead his class to music and play! He was very interested in what went into the snack packs and helped make the cheese elephants that were his suggestion.
snack: mini cheese elephant, mini pumpkin chocolate chip muffin, 3 edamame, 2 carrot sticks, 1 yellow pepper stick, strawberry with blueberries

My Very First Trunk Show

Yesterday was my very first EVER Trunk Show at Hoopla Kids in Decatur. Set up went smoothly thanks to help from a few friends. The show started off strong with a bunch of folks showing up right at 4:00, I was thrilled to see so many people stop by even though Sunday night can be a difficult night to get out. All in all I think it went very well, and it was a good venue to learn how these functions go. I plan on doing another show in October and will post more when I have details.


PS. I will be back to my routine posting of bento lunches in October (twice a week at least). Until then keep checking in for any random bento meals!

Saturday, September 6, 2008

Bento Picnic & Hike at Lullwater Park

Today we packed up some bento's and headed off to Lullwater Park by Emory. What we found is a wonderful oasis in the middle of Decatur/Emory. There is a lot of visual interest for a hike, including a small lake (complete with ducks!), large open grassy hills, a waterfall, and even a suspension bridge. After exploring for a bit we sat down to have a bite to eat.

top: baked polenta with corn, basil, tomato, and aged gouda alongside caramelized onion & walnut chicken meatballs with peach chutney, cheddar cheese (recipes soon)
bottom:
edamame, cherry muffin, alongside peach, blueberry, and kiwi


The adventurer in all of us enjoyed our short trek into the wilderness, if it weren't for the occasional siren heard from the road beyond the tree line it would have been difficult to believe that we were surrounded by the city.

Tuesday, September 2, 2008

Trunk Show at Hoopla -September 14th from 4-6pm!!!

I am getting ready for this trunk show coming up in 1 1/2 weeks and thought I might ask if there is anything specific that folks might want to see during the event. Drop me an e-mail at pam@cookingformonkeys.com with suggestions or ideas. At the very least stop by, the topics will be interesting and Hoopla always has some great merchandise! I will have bento accessories and boxes available for sale as well.